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Welcome back to Words of Life. Sadly, this is our final episode in our series with our new friend, Nicole Yunes. We just want to sincerely thank her so much for her time and her wisdom. It was just really such a blessing to have her on this show.
So, you can learn more about Nicole and her ministry at nicoleenus.com. God bless. Resilient faith develops in our unexpected seasons. Welcome back to Words of Life. I'm Bernie Dake, and I'm so excited to have on this podcast for week six, Nicole Yunus.
Welcome back, Nicole. Thanks. Thanks for having me. It's been a journey. I've been so glad to be with you for all these episodes.
I am your hype man. You are. You can you go with me everywhere I go and just be the guy who like ladies and gentlemen, basically. That's right, that's right. No, you've come to us with an incredible new book.
Not what I signed up for, its title. You can find it anywhere. You can buy books, by the way. I'm just encouraged by your character, the wisdom that you've shared from your own experiences. Many people are in a season of life or experience seasons of life.
That they didn't sign up for. And that's the premise. And I just can't thank you enough for being faithful and diligent and doing the work to put it out. Thank you. I can only imagine that it's not easy.
That means a lot. All writers really do kind of shoot in the dark, and it's a long process. It's a long, long time before those words get in front of people. It just is very, very meaningful to hear that.
So thank you.
Well, be encouraged. At Thrive Ent, planning your finances is bigger than money. It's a way to support the people, causes, and community you love because helping you put your faith into action is at the heart of what we do. Brivent, where money means more. Connect with us at Brivent.com.
For our listeners, for me. Mm-hmm. Explain what a resilient Person or resilient faith looks like I actually kind of think we all know what it looks like if we think for a minute about someone maybe older in the church that we're really drawn to.
Someone who's been through some things. And when I think of that person, I think really of Jesus' words: like, take my yoke upon me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. You know, come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest. It stands to reason that as the Spirit of God is taking more governance of our soul, as we're being sanctified and formed, We would reflect more and more of Jesus. And when I think about the people like that that I know, the best way I know how to describe the feeling that I get from them more so than just character traits is a feeling of hospitality, which might sound like a funny thing to say, because, like, what are we talking about?
Entertaining people? No. It's like this sense that you can be fully yourself in their presence, that they are so present with whoever you are and wherever you are. They're so present with this undergirding of hope that you feel like you can share your burden, that you can be honest, that they aren't going to like lose their faith if you're struggling with yours. And there's this sense of, that's why I call it resiliency, because it's got this flexibility to it.
It's this, you know, oaks of righteousness type tree where you're like, I feel like I can find shelter with this person. That's how I describe what a resilient faith looks like. Yeah. It's beautiful. You were quoting Matthew 11:28, which is awesome.
If our listeners have never read that, please look it up. It's in the New Testament, just to the right of the center, Matthew 11:28. It's an incredible verse. I love a verse in Hebrews 13:7. For me, when I think of resilient Faith or a resilient person or a person of resilient faith.
I think of those leaders that spoke the word of the Lord to me. And uh the Hebrews thirteen seven says, like remember your leaders. The ones who spoke the word of the Lord to you, consider the outcome of their way of life and in the Yeah. There's so many people that have come into my life that have spoken truth to me that have been through a season not unlike something I've been in. who have been such an encouragement.
Mm-hmm. That is a model for me to consider at least. I just want to encourage you or amplify what you've said. Which is good. Um Hey, if we're trying to process a loss that we've experienced and feel stuck, how can we move forward to redemption?
How would you tell someone to move forward? Yeah, I think the first thing I would say is that the deeper the loss, the deeper the love, and allow that to be true. If you've experienced a deep loss, It represents a deep love, and that is not worth, I don't even know, just like Christianizing away or trying to push you through it. The second thing I would say is that I think grief is a relationship. It's not a just state of mind that you walk or work through, even when people say they're working through grief.
I think grief is a relationship that we have. And so, that grief comes and goes in times in our life. And is there a way to make peace with grief and allow it to be true? Because we can be two things at one time. You know, we talked about earlier in this series, and antinomy is like these two opposing things.
Like, can I possibly have grief and be happy? I think so. I think those things can coexist as our hearts expand. There's room for a lot of coexisting experiences. Do I believe life can be really hard and really good?
I think so. Yeah. Can I have forgiveness and also have unreconciled things in my life? I think so. You know, so when we are okay with holding those things together, I think we're then on the journey to healing.
The other thing I say. Is very, very practical, which is to do something with your hands. This is something I've heard from a lot of people experiencing grief: they need tactile experiences. I wonder if it's like our soul's way of revolutionizing against grief by being like, I can create. There may be something in this world that destroys, but I also have been given the power to create, whether that's gardening or baking or crocheting or whatever, working with your hands in some kind of way.
Many, many people who are in acute grief tell me that that's very helpful to them. That's a good word. At Thrive Ent, planning your finances is bigger than money. It's a way to support the people, causes, and community you love because helping you put your faith into action is at the heart of what we do. Privant, where money means more.
Connect with us at private.com. I hope that our listeners have people in their community who may know the Lord. If our listeners, for some reason, don't know the Lord. Here's something that's important. We all want to Come alongside someone, maybe.
You know, we empathize with people often. That is a natural thing for the human condition. But how can we as fellow believers come along someone after a tragedy? This is a great question. And I think one that people often have because they're so nervous about saying or doing the wrong thing that they often will avoid.
And actually, it's a human thing to avoid pain.
So, when we see someone in deep pain, we actually kind of want to avoid it. But, what I would encourage people to do is you can be present without fixing it, without solving it, without talking. Like, you don't need like presence makes the difference. I always tell people: think about what happens when someone has an emergency. What happens?
People go to the waiting room. Waiting rooms are places where you can't do anything to change the outcome, but you show up anyway. I often tell people: if you're in someone's life who has had a tragedy or a grief, you can show up anyway. You don't have to talk. You don't have to do much.
You can sit with them. You can send notes. I think like letter writing is a lost art. The beautiful thing about writing letters is people can engage with it at the time and place that they are able, and it stays with them. Letter writing is a lost art.
And I was taught very early on for my mentors: if you can go to the funeral, even if you think, no, no, I wasn't that close to the person. I didn't really know them. I'm like, well, when you go to the funeral, they may or may not be able to. Not see you, but if you can go because it's expressing presence and nothing stands out in the presence of pain like presence, just presence.
So that's my encouragement: don't try to solve it, don't try to fix it. The person is smart enough to know. What solutions are out there? What they do need is love and presence, and you can do that. I'm encouraged by that.
I've often heard the idea of ministry of presence from people that I love and trust. when my wife's brother was dying from cancer. I said to a former youth pastor friend of mine who's A very wise man. What am I supposed to say? What scripture verse am I supposed to read?
What prayer do I pray? And he said to me, Bernie, Just relax. Be present. The Lord will give you something. Or there will be a practical opportunity for you, but otherwise shut up.
And just be present. That was a good word. And I apologize to my mother for saying shut up on this podcast. The second thing I would say to that is there was a book that was written called Well-Intentioned Dragons. And the premise was.
I love that title. Haven't heard of it.
Well, people say things they mean well, but they say. silly things like I know how you feel. It's not really possible for us to understand the depth of emotion someone might be going through. And so the idea is perhaps we don't say things like that. Mm-hmm.
Being present is enough. And then as you have an opportunity. Like you said, the art of letter writing, you know, or a note, an email, a text for goodness sakes, just something that you can edit before you actually send is a good idea. I also tell people to talk in the first person. That can help a lot.
Like, don't say you could use this verse or you should read, you should do. Just say, when I've been through a hard time, this verse means a lot to me. That's it. That's an invitational way to engage with someone rather than what can feel confrontational or just miss the mark. Draw from your own.
This is why I think when God's like, yeah, out of the heart, the mouth speaks, like, draw from your own heart and let your own experience just be like, hey, when I've been struggling before, this is a verse that's meant a lot to me. I'll be praying it for you.
So that's different than this is a verse that should mean a lot for you. It might not, you know, that might not be where they're at. Mm-hmm. Nicole, I know that this can be a little bit vulnerable, but if I were to ask you the question, how has God showed up for you in the past? What would you say to our listeners?
I think that God has given me a deep sense of his acceptance, his love in ways that you can only experience. You can't study your way into it. You can't work your way into it. It's an experience that comes, I think, from seeking him. I mean, I really believe that as a human being, and I share this because I know we casually talk about hearing from God, and I do believe I hear from God, especially through his word all the time.
But when you have a real experience with Jesus, that might happen one or two times in your life. And that's enough, honestly. Like to me, that's enough. It's like, okay, God's real. He cares for us.
He's there. I don't know how this story is going to end up. I don't know how long this life's going to be, but I do know that there is an eternity. I do know that Jesus is the Savior of the world. I do know that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
I do know that He is love. And I don't always have to understand it to trust it. And that's only come out of the most difficult places of experiencing His presence and His peace.
So good. We've said it many weeks. There is not enough time in this podcast to just hear from you and the things that God's given you to share with us. I want to make sure our listeners know how they can connect with you before we say goodbye for this last time with Nicole Eunice. Everybody, give them a quick heads up.
How can they find your podcast? Where can they buy your book? All those things. Would love for you to come join me any week. Every single week, we hang out and look at a passage of scripture together.
So if you've enjoyed listening to the story about Joseph and feeling maybe like scripture can be alive and relevant to you, you can join me on How to Study the Bible. That's a podcast every week. You can also find my books anywhere they're sold and look for me at a live event. Just come over to my website, nicoleunis.com. You can jump on my email list and then you'll know where I'm going to be next.
And that's Nicole, N-I-C-O-L-E. UNICEE nicoleunis.com. We're so grateful for you. I thank God for you and for your faithfulness to his leading. I pray that he continues to use you in many powerful ways.
Nicole It would be a privilege, like we have done these last five weeks, for you to pray for our listeners. I would love that. And I'm going to offer us a benediction, everyone, that blessing over our time. I love this beautiful picture of God the Father, who's just looking at you with delight, holding you up in his arms.
So let's just receive this blessing together. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you. May the Lord lift up his countenance unto you and give you his peace both now. And until we meet again.
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Okay. These are the words. These are the words of life. These are the words. These are the words.
These are the words of life. Thanks so much for listening to Words of Life. We want to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the show. Visit lifeeaudio.com where you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They have shows about prayer, Bible studying, parenting, and more.
Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time. In a world where relationships are easily broken and often discarded, the Rebuilding Us Marriage Podcast is your lighthouse, guiding the way to hope, restoration, and transformation in Christ. I'm your host and marriage coach, Dana Shea. Join me as we discuss the necessary tools for rebuilding marriages from adversity, betrayal, and disconnection.
It's time to reignite love as we rebuild marriages from the ground up. Listen to the Rebuilding Us Marriage podcast on lifeaudio.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The Historical Jesus Podcast is the sweeping saga of the life and times of Galilean Jesus of Nazareth, as well as the faith, religion, and church founded to honor and disseminate his acts and teachings. Join me, Mark Vinette, on this fascinating journey through time, exploring the many great works of Christian theology, literature, architecture, music, and art inspired by the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
